Third Tyrant display at Long Beach

More gold and silver coins from the Tyrant Collection – ranging from Gelon, tyrant of the cities of Gela and Syracuse in 485 B.C.E., to King Victor Emmanuel III in…

A rare doppio ducat of French King Louis XII as the Duke of Milan (1499-1512) is one of the many highlights of the $8 million “Tyrants of the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Seas” exhibit at the September 2018 Long Beach Expo. (Photo courtesy Lyle Engleson/Goldberg Coins & Collectibles)

More gold and silver coins from the Tyrant Collection – ranging from Gelon, tyrant of the cities of Gela and Syracuse in 485 B.C.E., to King Victor Emmanuel III in 1933 – will be displayed together for the first time Sept. 6-8, 2018.

“Tyrants of the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Seas” will be a featured attraction at the September 2018 Long Beach Coin, Currency, Stamp & Sports Collectible Expo in Long Beach, Calif.

There are 365 historic coins in the $8 million display, which celebrates numismatic treasures from Sicily on the south to Turin on the north. The exhibit is divided into regions by their boundaries with bodies of water, such as the Arno and Po rivers as well as the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian seas, and showcases some exceedingly rare issues.

“This part of the extensive Tyrant Collection, the world’s most valuable rare coin collection in private hands, encompasses the expansive area that evolved into modern Italy. The impressive coins in the exhibit range from frequently seen ancients to medieval and modern issues of great rarity,” said Ira Goldberg, president of Goldberg Coins and Collectibles, Inc. (www.GoldbergCoins.com) in Los Angeles, Calif. Goldberg is one of the numismatic professionals providing guidance in assembling the wide-ranging collection.

“It is a massive collection that vividly depicts the generations of rulers who held sway in their respective regions of old Italy,” said Bruce Lorich, who cataloged the exhibit.

Among the many high-quality rarities in the display are gold ducats and zecchino of the Venetian doges, including Giovanni Dandalo, Giovanni I. Corner and Francesco Contarini, as well as a doppio ducat of the French King Louis XII when he was the Duke of Milan from 1499 until his death in 1512. The Venetian gold ducat collection is complete, and the exhibit features the only complete set in private hands of every doge of Venice who struck a gold ducat.

Also on display will be this historic gold zecchino (1625-1629) of the Venetian Doge, Giovanni I. Corner, which depicts him kneeling while being blessed by Mark, the patron saint of Venice, and depicts Christ on the back giving a benediction. (Photo courtesy Lyle Engleson/Goldberg Coins & Collectibles)

The extensive array of Sicilian coins in the Tyrants of Charybdis section of the exhibit includes an ancient gold 100 litrae of Dionysios I and a rare gold 1727 4 ducati of Carlo III of Palermo.

This is the third display in a multi-year series planned by the anonymous owner. Detailed catalogs will be available at the show for $10.

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